Offices will be buzzing today and for a few weeks with the thrill of March Madness.
It's a basketball tournament. Many will cheer for Cinderella teams but only one team will win the championship. But the broader appeal to the tournament seems to focus on our brackets. Bracketeers fill out which team they feel win each game of the tournament. They lay hands on their bracket and prophesy about how it all will end.
I don't want to be accused of spiritualizing a basketball tournament, but I do want to call attention to the attention given to bracketology as a type of shiny object. It doesn't take much to follow the temptation to "look over here." When the final refrain of the recap music played by CBS sports of "One Shining Moment" fades into a memory, what is left to ponder? Will we be closer to or further from our goals?
Most leaders look the other way as their work teams focus on their bracket teams. Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. estimates about 51 million office workers join office pools during March Madness. Based on the country's average hourly wage of $25.35, the outplacement consultancy firm estimates employers will lose $1.3 billion in pay to slacking employees per hour of distraction. Between time spent filling out brackets and watching tournament games live, the total loss of productivity could approach $4 billion. Here's the link to the Fox business report.
This puzzles me because it seems like everyone I speak to tells me stories of gloom and doom about how busy they are. Do people work ahead and budget time off for bracket work? Or do folks somehow change their priorities in order to grab the shiny object?
Two things frustrate me about this:
1. Why can't we fit in a new work project that will help our company grow?
2. Why can't we find more time to meditate on the Word and the presence of God?
Everyone seems to want to spend more time with the Lord. But first, "let me get my brackets filled out and I need to herd a few cats. If I have any energy remaining, I will seek the Lord."
It seems to me that Christology can change my life while bracketology can only offer madness.
Our God is a jealous God. He wants us to seek Him first. "My sheep hear my voice."
They do that because they stop and listen for it.
2 Chronicles 7:14 Modern English Version (MEV)
"If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
Platform Tip No. 6
Show up every day. Whatever you do with your message, do it every day.
Block the time, every day. Write or prepare to speak or connect with an audience.
It's not your platform if you don't show up every day.
Dr. Steve Greene is the publisher and executive vice president of the media group at Charisma Media and executive producer of the Charisma Podcast Network. His book, Love Leads: The Spiritual Connection Between Your Relationships and Productivity, is now available.
Leaders, Dr. Greene wants to help you understand the spiritual connection between relationships and productivity. Read his new blog, here.
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Dr. Steve Greene is now sharing stories, teachings, and conversations with guests who lead with love on Love Leads, a new podcast. Listen now.
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